At 2 weeks old, my LO became gassy, restless and fussy, and constantly grunting and straining.. Then I noticed the rectal prolapse while changing her diaper, which scared me to death. I immediately took her in to the pedi. She recommended me to a gastro, who diagnosed her with allergic colitis due to a milk protein allergy. There was also blood in her stool. The damage was pretty bad, but he said given time, it would heal, as long as I either quit breast feeding or go on a total elimination diet. I chose the latter, knowing breast milk is best. I was also advised to supplement with hypoallergenic formula since dairy takes awhile to leave the system. After three weeks and three different formulas, things were progressively getting worse. The colic started at 9am, and would last until about 6pm. She would only sleep thirty minutes at a time, and would fight me at the breast and bottle. Her dirty diapers were green, frothy and explosive. She would scream while passing gas and the spitting up became projectile vomiting. I called the doctors, lactation consultants, and read every thing I could get my hands on concerning her condition. The diagnosis was made, much to my regret: secondary lactose intolerance. The damage to her intestines is so bad that her cells weren't making enough lactase to break down the lactose in my breast milk. The gastro said if I don't stop breast feeding, then the damage may become permanent. I still refused to give in, and bought some lactase enzyme to break down the breast milk for better digestion. It didn't work, and I had to do a lot of soul searching. Much against my will, I had to quit nursing cold turkey and feed her neocate. To say the least, the past two days have been hell! Has anyone else had to wean for medical reasons? If so, how long before baby adjusted? (and not to sound rude, but please spare me lectures on how breast milk is best no matter what. I've just been through 8 weeks of telling myself the same thing!)
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